Strange Infatuations
by Beautiful Thief
Summary: Kise Ryouta is a relatively successful model who's just adopted a puppy from a coworker. He's also kind of stalking this artist he's seen the work of at a few exhibitions he's been to recently. Aomine Daiki is making ends meet while his career as an artist takes off by walking dogs for his friend Kuroko's small-time dog walking company.
1. 1 - Ryouta

CRISSY THIS IS _ALL YOUR FAULT_.

Okay, in all seriousness - I can't find the post anymore, but there was this AU post floating around tumblr - something along the lines of "aus where you know the other person, but you also don't", was the theme, I believe, and there was one prompt which was something along the lines of: "character a is an artist, and character b is a fan; also, character b has a dog and the person who walks it keeps leaving cute notes" - and character a is the dog walker.

I immediately went to Crissy and screamed about Aomine being a dog walking artist because Aomine is super precious with Nigou.

And so, this AU was born, and today I gave into the overwhelming desire to write it, despite the fact that I knew it was going to be multi-chap, and that I have other fics I need to finish. orz

* * *

It wasn't something planned.

Ryouta's not really a pet kind of person. Or, well, okay, that's not entirely true – he _loves_ Kuroko's puppy a _lot_, and he would like to have a dog of his own, really – but he doesn't exactly have the time spare to care for a pet. He's a busy guy, and sometimes he spends days away from home for shoots, whether overseas or otherwise.

So he had been content to sort of dote on Kuroko's own dog, which was a sweet, playful animal, like a loving uncle, until one day, one of his co-workers is trying really hard to give away her golden retriever's babies.

He's got a beautiful little thing in his arms before he realises what's going on, and if he could ever say he'd experienced love at first sight, this _might_ have actually been it.

Ryouta's always been a capricious sort of person, and also very selfish. He already knows he shouldn't take the beautiful little puppy, but he wants her, so he claims her anyway.

"What are you going to call her?" his co-worker asks, curious.

He hums. "I'm not sure," he admits. In his arms, the mass of golden fur is wriggling to try and get at his face.

"She still needs a few of her shots, and to be fixed and micro-chipped," he's told, "but I'll take her home for now." He's fairly sure she targeted him for ownership when she ties a golden ribbon around the puppy's neck, but he can't bring himself to be particularly upset about it.

He already knows Kuroko's going to tell him he's far too irresponsible to have a pet, but as much as he adores him, Kuroko's never really been able to talk him out of doing something he really wants to do, whether it's doing a racy photoshoot, dating that guy or girl Kuroko has (usually accurately) pegged as being no good, or making a completely superfluous and expensive purchase.

Ryouta knows he can't really do this on his own – he knows absolutely nothing about training a dog, after all, even ones as supposedly intelligent as golden retrievers are – and he also knows that Kuroko will be a great source of help to him, and that while Kuroko would make a lot of pointed comments, he would also never leave an animal in the care of someone who couldn't look after it properly.

It's with this in mind that he stops by at the home base of Kuroko's dog walking company on his way home.

It's not too late in the evening that all the dog walkers will be back yet – so the door is still open. Kuroko himself is in his office doing paperwork, probably – at the very least, he's not at the unattended desk, and Ryouta's known him long enough to check _carefully_. He takes great pleasure in making the little bell Kuroko installed ring so that he can get his attention.

Kuroko's soft service smile disappears from his face the moment he sees its Ryouta and not a customer. "Kise-kun," he greets him. Ryouta would be offended, if he didn't know him better.

"Kurokocchi, hi!" Ryouta leans halfway over the bench. "Can I come back there?"

"If you must," Kuroko says, and ducks back into his office.

Ryouta follows, smiling. There's an extra chair in Kuroko's office, but it's not for clients, who aren't really invited back here, and is only very rarely used for Kuroko to speak to his employees or interviewees. It's a surprisingly comfortable armchair, after all; its true purpose is for Kuroko's partner to doze in when Kuroko has to stay late to do paperwork and such.

Kagami's a sweetheart; Ryouta sometimes wishes that he'd been the one to catch his eye rather than Kuroko, but they really make each other too happy for him to think on it much. It's rare that someone will look past Ryouta to see Kuroko, after all, and he definitely thinks Kuroko deserves someone who never even takes a second glance away from him.

"What brings you by, Kise-kun?" Kuroko asks. His desk isn't neat, but there's a system to it, though Ryouta doesn't quite understand it, even after watching Kuroko place various paperwork into various piles. "I wasn't expecting you."

"Can't I just want to spend some time with my dearest friend?" Ryouta asks. Kuroko glances at him momentarily, and Ryouta can almost hear the retort that _they're not that close_. Instead, Kuroko waits him out. It's not hard to tell that Ryouta is extra excitable today, after all – he's still practically bouncing in his seat.

"I'm getting a dog," he finally caves, and grins.

"Dogs are a lot of work, Kise-kun," Kuroko points out. "And while I don't doubt your enthusiasm, you don't really have the time for one."

Ryouta pouts. "But I love her. She's mine."

It's at this point that Kuroko sighs, stops sorting the paperwork on his desk, and turns to look at him fully.

"What kind of dog is it?" he asks. Ryouta beams.

"She's a golden retriever! Well, at least, partially, anyway, I didn't ask Nishioka-chan about the details but the mum is _definitely_ a golden retriever—"

"Kise-kun," Kuroko interrupts him. "That's not a small dog."

He frowns. "I know that."

Kuroko sighs very softly. "Alright. Well, they're a smart dog, which is just as well, because that'll have to make up for your lack of brains—"

"_Rude_, Kurokocchi—"

"—but they have good natures. She'll need a lot of brushing with the coat she has." He pauses for a moment. "Are you sure you're up for this? It really is a very big responsibility, Kise-kun, and Kagami-kun will not accept a second dog in the house as large as a golden retriever in the event that you decide you're not capable of taking care of her."

"I'm sure," Ryouta says. "But..."

"But?"

"But she'll need to be walked a lot, right?"

"At least once a day," Kuroko agrees.

"I have to exercise to keep in shape."

"You don't exclusively do cardio work, Kise-kun. You go to the gym with my boyfriend for a reason."

Ryouta laughed. "Well, then maybe I should hire you, Kurokocchi," he says. It's a joke, or he means it as a joke, but almost instantly the potential of it is apparent to them both.

"Well, I suppose this way I'll know when to call Animal Rescue," Kuroko mutters, and he opens up one of his drawers and shuffles around until he finds and pulls out a clipboard.

"She'll need to have all her vaccinations and have been spayed," Kuroko says as he takes one of the sheets of paper out. "If she still doesn't come when she's called, you'll tell me so I can tell her walker not to let her off leash until she will come reliably." Kuroko's blue eyes bore into him as he passes it over what Ryouta realises is a form.

"I already have a key to your apartment, I'll use that one to have a copy made once she meets the requirements for being walked," Kuroko adds as he sits back in his chair. "Just so you know, Kise-kun, I'm going to charge you extra."

Ryouta looked it over briefly, then put it down on top of Kuroko's desk so that he could hug him. "Thank you, Kurokocchi!"

"Please get off, Kise-kun," Kuroko complained, muffled against his shoulder.

"Kuroko, are you still here?" There was a shuffling noise as someone came to the back, and then a large red-head looked in. "Oh, Kise's here."

"Kagamicchi, I'm getting a puppy!" Ryouta announces. "Isn't it exciting?"

"No," Kagami says, looking pained. "I don't need another dog in my life." His gaze shifts back to Kuroko, and he asks, "Don't you know _any_ cat people?"

"Kagami-kun, perhaps you didn't notice, but I own a _dog walking company_," Kuroko points out. His tone is very dry. "Also, Kise-kun, please don't make me ask again for you to get off me."

Ryouta lets go, because this is his warning that Kuroko will use violent force if necessary to remove him from his person. Kuroko uses his newfound freedom of movement to get up so that he can go and give Kagami a greeting kiss.

Ryouta sighs, somewhat envious; the noise serves as an unintentional reminder to Kagami that they are not alone or unobserved though, and makes him go pink in the face when Kuroko rocks back down onto flat feet, having pushed himself up on his toes to kiss him.

"You guys are so cute," he comments. "Do you have a brother I can have, Kagamicchi?"

Kagami rolls his eyes at him.

"Himuro-san has a partner," Kuroko says. "I'm afraid you're out of luck."

Ryouta sighs more loudly this time, feeling dramatic. "I'll never find a man as good as Kagamicchi," he teases. It used to fluster Kagami when he said things like this, but he just ignores it now. Still, Ryouta can't help himself.

"Probably not," Kuroko agrees.

Ryouta gets up, mostly because he's done what he came here to do, but also because Kuroko is settling back in at his desk, which means that Kagami is going to need the chair he's sitting in. Also, he's starting to get hungry, and he's going to have to start buying things for his new pet.

"Well, I'll come visit again soon, Kurokocchi!" he tells him. "Maybe you can help me get some things for my puppy?"

"Talk to your co-worker about what she recommends," Kuroko says. "I'm not holding your hand through this. You made the decision to get a pet; you need to do the work yourself."

It was pretty much what Ryouta had been expecting, but still, he pouts. "You're no fun, Kurokocchi," he complains. "But once she's had her vaccinations, I'll bring her over to play with Nigou!"

Kagami grimaces as he collapses into his chair, but Kuroko smiles slightly.

"Good evening, Kise-kun," Kuroko farewells him. Kagami lazily waves a hand at him from the chair as he leaves the office.

* * *

By the time his puppy is settling into his apartment a few weeks later, Ryouta's settled on a name, if nothing else. The tag on the plush black collar he bought for her reads _Emi_ – she had struggled with it when he'd initially gotten it on her, but she's finished sulking about the new addition to her body she can't remove, and has resumed cheerfully chewing on and tossing the squeaking bone toy Ryouta had given her.

At the moment, he's on the phone with Kuroko, because after an hour of looking up vets on the internet, he finally thought maybe Kuroko would be willing to help him out with a recommendation.

"All the vets in the area are very good, Kise-kun," Kuroko tells him. "I've never had an owner tell me they were dissatisfied with the service of one of the local vets."

Emi makes the red plastic bone squeak loudly, and Ryouta smiles at her.

"Besides, any vet can do her last shots," Kuroko adds. "Please stop being ridiculous."

"Kurokocchi," Ryouta whines, "I just want to make sure she's taken care of properly!"

Kuroko's slight exhalation of a sigh is more noticeable when he's on the phone, as the microphone picks of the rush of air. "I will give you the details of the vet that we take Nigou to."

"Thank you, Kurokocchi," Ryouta cheers. "Are you going to come over and meet her?"

There's a short pause which Ryouta can't really decipher. "Perhaps after work," Kuroko finally says.

Ryouta hadn't had a shoot today – in fact, he'd cleared out his schedule for the rest of the week – so he was spending most of his day helping Emi get used to her new space, and try to make sure she does her business on the pet loo he'd bought. The few times he felt the need to move she'd followed him and he'd just about died because it was just so cute to look behind him and see her trailing just at his heels.

Around when he expects Kuroko to arrive, he manages to capture her between his knees and use a red ribbon to make a bow on her collar.

"You're going to love Kurokocchi," he coos to her, dragging his fingers through her soft fur. Her little tail is waving at him, and he has to resist the urge to drag her in for a cuddle that will mess up her bow. "Kurokocchi is amazing."

Kuroko buzzes for entry about fifteen minutes later, and Emi starts barking.

"Come on in," Ryouta says, pressing the button to let him in. "Quiet!"

He doesn't hear Kuroko's soft laughter because Emi is still barking.

"Please forgive the intrusion," Kuroko says, right as Ryouta captures an armful of wriggling puppy.

"Kurokocchi!"

Kuroko comes over. "You should hold onto her muzzle and use a low voice to make her stop barking," he tells him. "It imitates how the mother dog quiets them." His fingers curl around her muzzle in demonstration, and though Emi struggles, Kuroko is about as stubborn as anyone Ryouta has ever known, and stronger than he looks. He's looking at her intently as he clearly, firmly and lowly says, "_Quiet_."

"Kurokocchi," Ryouta says, "that was really hot."

Kuroko stares at him for a moment, judgement clearly evident in his gaze. "I only wish it worked on people too," he comments. "You should put her down now."

Ryouta does as he's told, and Emi skitters on the floor a little before jumping up to put her paws on Kuroko's leg.

"You really shouldn't encourage that," Kuroko says, pushing her down and then crouching to fondle her ears gently. "She's going to get big, and it won't be as cute when she's jumping up to your stomach."

Ryouta laughs a little. "Yeah, good point."

"Your papa is hopeless," Kuroko says to Emi, who is nosing at his free hand while the other one pets her. "Did he finally figure out a name for you, at least?"

He pouts. "There's a tag on her collar, Kurokocchi!"

"It could be blank for when you decide," Kuroko points out.

"Emi! Her name is Emi!"

"It's very nice to meet you, Emi," Kuroko greets her. "Please try not to be too difficult for Kise-kun, as he will just trouble me about it." He looks up at Ryouta. "You're not being a very good host, Kise-kun."

Ryouta's shoulders slump. "Kurokocchi is being very hard on me today," he mumbles. "Did you want something to drink?"

"Tea would be nice, thank you," Kuroko says. He's not even looking at Ryouta, he notices when he looks back over his shoulder as he goes to his kitchenette. He's ruffling Emi's fur between his outspread fingers while she twists this way and that and snuffles while trying to get at his hands.

Ryouta takes a picture to send to Kagami, and smiles to himself.


	2. 2 - Daiki

Please don't expect me to keep up this rate of updates as I get further into my university semester, hahaha.

* * *

Daiki's days always start earlier than he likes.

In fairness, it's hardly because he's getting up early. Rather, he's always found he has more restless energy in the evenings, and between his job and the nap he takes after it before working on whatever piece he's doing at the moment, he keeps hours that Tetsu tends to describe as closest to that of a very messed up university student.

Today's alarm goes off at 10:30, and if he could afford to replace his phone, he'd _definitely _throw it against the wall. Unfortunately, he _really _doesn't have the money for that right now, so regretfully, he pries his eyes open to turn off the alarm blaring from his phone.

Daiki doesn't honestly have the money for much these days.

He'd already known when he went down this path that there's no glamour in the concept of the _starving artist_ – and he's not starving. He's just not an established name yet, still breaking into art circles. He makes enough to get by, between the paintings he sells at galleries, and he usually has at least one or two, and the dog walking gig.

And well, it beats working in a fucking convenience store or something. Tetsu lets him pick his hours, and accommodates for when he's got a showing coming up. It's working, though one day he wants to live somewhat more comfortably than in the tiniest studio apartment known to man.

His entire life is in this one room – door in one corner, bed in the next corner, kitchenette in another, and his art in the other near the bathroom.

It's freezing in winter and disgustingly hot in summer and sometimes he's really sick of being so fucking broke all the time, but he reminds himself that it's not as bad as it has been – he's not sharing anymore. He's in his own apartment, which means he can _afford _that, because Satsuki helps him manage his budget.

Though, he suspects his sheer desperation to get out of the apartment he was sharing and have his own space and quiet in which to work was part of the reason too, and on his not so confident days, he kind of suspects that she might be slipping money into his wallet now and then.

He pulls himself out of bed very regretfully and reaches out for the closest clothes. Most of them are on the floor or on small table that's situated in the space between the kitchen and his bed, though he still has one of the boxes from when he moved in sitting near the foot of it; he keeps whatever unseasonal clothes he has in there.

It doesn't take him too long to get ready – his face and teeth are cleaned, and he messes with his hair with wet fingers until it's not on the bad side of 'looking like I just rolled out of bed' – and then he goes to the kitchen, still half asleep.

At the window, Cat meows at him.

It's not his. Technically. He's not sure it's _anyone's_, to be honest. It doesn't have a collar, and one of its ears is missing a chunk from it. It's a burly black tomcat, though, and it seems to have taken a liking to Daiki and his quiet apartment that got a lot of sunlight. It came in through the window Daiki left open one afternoon and never really left.

He doesn't feed it if he can't feed himself – that's the rule Daiki's enforced on himself. The thing can hunt its own damn meals, he figured, and he'd said as much to Satsuki. It's not _his _pet, after all.

If she knows he's short on money, she buys its food now.

"Yeah yeah," he grumbles at it. He refuses to name it on principle, though Satsuki has more than once told him he's already attached enough to the damn thing that naming it won't change anything. He honestly doesn't see the point in naming an animal that doesn't come when it's called, though, and the Cat is the Cat, so.

Cat jumps from where he had been curled up in the half-open window down onto the floor, and stretches. When Daiki glances down at the bowls where he keeps some water and dry food, the food bowl is empty.

Cats.

He opens the cabinet where he and Satsuki keep Cat's food and drags out the bag. It's starting to feel a little light, but it should last the rest of the week, he thinks. He'll have to check his account balance though; he's not sure if he can afford food for Cat at the moment.

Daiki hates checking his account balance more than most things.

He pours a bit of the food out for Cat, closes up the ziplock and shoves it away before going to check what he has in the fridge. Behind him, he can hear the crunch of Cat getting into his food.

There's predictably, not a lot to eat in his fridge.

"If only it was as easy to feed myself as it is to feed you," he said to Cat, who entirely ignored him, as per usual.

* * *

Daiki rocks up to Tetsu's a bit before lunch time, because yesterday Tetsu had asked him to come a little early.

"Yo, Tetsu," he calls out as he steps inside. "I'm here?"

"Aomine-kun, good morning," Tetsu greets him, popping his head out from the office. "Thank you for coming in a little earlier today."

"It's not a problem," he answers as he walks past the desk to Tetsu's office. "What's up?"

"I've just got a new dog on the roster," Tetsu tells him as he drops into the comfy chair. "I was hoping you would be able to accommodate her in your schedule."

Daiki pulls a face. "I like all the dogs I've got already." He coughs when he realises it comes out whinier than he expected.

Tetsu looks at him. "I don't really trust anyone here as much as I trust you," he admits slowly. "And I would really appreciate it if you could take this one on. The dog has a good nature, I can vouch for that, and the client will pay extra for his privacy."

Damn it. Daiki knows he's lost the battle when Tetsu dangles extra money in front of him like a carrot. "One day," he says to Tetsu, "I'm not going to be so broke you can do this to me."

Tetsu gives him a little smile. "Aomine-kun says it like I'm holding him at gunpoint. You are free to refuse, as always."

Daiki scowls at him. "Yeah yeah."

Tetsu slides a new key out of an envelope, and unlocks the drawer where he stores the home owner's keys. Tetsu was very concerned about making sure that their service wouldn't compromise the safety and security of the people and homes that they worked with, so he kept the keys to the houses and apartments himself, with a separate keychain for each walker. Daiki watches as he pulls out his keys, and pushes the gold key into the keychain with the rest.

"This is the address," Tetsu says. "The code to let you into the building is there too." He looks surprisingly relieved. "Thank you, Aomine-kun. Her name is Emi – she's not quite coming consistently when she's called yet, but her owner says he's left some treats she likes, and she should come for those if nothing else."

Daiki blinks for a moment, and then it clicks, why Tetsu's figured he can accommodate the dog. "It's a puppy?" Puppies don't need to be walked for quite as long as full grown dogs, but the lesser degree of socialisation means that it'll probably need to be walked separately from the rest of the dogs in his charge for a while.

"Emi has all her shots, and has been spayed," Tetsu says. "But yes, she's still a puppy."

"So why didn't you take her?" Daiki asks, standing up and reaching for his keychain. "You love puppies."

Tetsu regards him for a second. "Aomine-kun is short on money again this week," is all he says, finally. "Momoi-san says your next chance to show at a gallery isn't for a few weeks."

"Satsuki should keep her big mouth shut," Daiki mutters, feeling his cheeks heat up. "I'm fine."

Tetsu hums. "Is that so?" He doesn't wait for Daiki to answer. "In any case, the Emi's owner is paying us well, and I can certainly pass some of that onto you as her primary walker."

"You're a terrible human being," Daiki says to him, sliding the keys and the address into his pocket. "I'm going now."

"You're welcome, Aomine-kun," Tetsu says, voice very bland. "Please take good care of Emi. Her owner is a nuisance."

Daiki lifts a hand to say goodbye, and then shoves them into his pockets. Tetsu had to have known he'd agree – there was no other reason to call him in early if he wasn't intended to walk the dog today.

"Sneaky bastard," he mutters. He pulls out the address from his pocket, and squints at it. That address is definitely on the _nicer _side of the area; where the hell did Tetsu find this guy?

Well, it won't be a problem, he figures. He can get there easily enough, knows his way around after hours and hours of walking dogs.

Probably, he should walk it after he's done all his other dogs, because especially without an owner or familiar face, it might take a little bit for the puppy to be okay with him. But now he's curious. It's without a second thought that he plans out how to get to the address in his head. All up it's a little bit of a journey, but he makes it to the fancy apartment building just fine.

He refuses to take any moments to appreciate how much living in this building might cost – he's punching the code for entrance to the building before he can let the thought _it probably costs more than I make in a year to live in this place _settle in his brain. The dog's owner appears to live on one of the upper floors, and he fidgets awkwardly in the elevator, even though he's not sharing it with any residents. He feels so out of place, in his ratty, holey jeans, t-shirt and hoodie, all with paint stains everywhere over them.

It's too clean. That's what he decides as he walks down the hall once the lift opens. He constantly feels like he's got paint on him, because usually he does – he feels like he's going to mess up these pristine white walls and clean wooden floors. He doesn't think he's lived in a place that was as clean as this since he moved out of home.

When he slides the key into the door of the apartment, there is almost immediately a storm of barking. Daiki grins, only because he's got a terrible, awful fondness for little puppy yips, and also because the barking is clearly an excited one. She thinks her owner is home.

He lets himself in, and almost immediately, the puppy begins to growl. Daiki sees a lot of pretty adorable stuff doing this job, but little puppies with bright red ribbons tied in bows on their collars growling at him is pretty high up on that list, and he laughs as he nudges the door closed with his foot.

"Hey, hey there," he says, soft and kneeling down on the floor with his palms facing up and fingers wide. "You're a good little protector, aren't you? I'm okay though, see?"

Unsurprisingly, the little beast didn't really trust that good will gesture. Daiki was an unintroduced stranger, after all; and really, Tetsu so should have come to do this with him, since he'd implied he'd met her before. A familiar face and scent would be _really _useful.

Still, Daiki could work with it. A puppy's a puppy, after all, and she would have been barely four or five kilograms worth dog; and he definitely had a size advantage and experience on his side.

Also, treats.

He'd actually forgotten that Tetsu had mentioned it, but as he shuffled towards the grumbling, barking puppy, his eyes had caught on the packaging on the little side table, on which a harness and lead also sat.

The puppy stills and quiets almost immediately upon hearing the rustling of the bag with treats.

"That's right," he says, and pulls out one of the jerky treats. It's huge – he breaks a little off and puts the rest back in. She still seems wary as he shuffles over, but finally, she sniffs at his outstretched hand, and he offers the treat to her with the other.

Her tail starts wagging, and he knows he's got her. He's not entirely surprised in the end, though. Animals just _like _him, which is pretty useful for this job.

Daiki has to check her tag for her name, because he'd honestly forgotten it between talking to Tetsu earlier and getting here. Emi's cheerfully nosing at his hands though, and Daiki can tell that she's at the very least well cared for – she's clearly kept well brushed and fed.

He's never admitted it to anyone, though Tetsu probably knows, the way he knows fucking _everything_, but he _really _likes puppies too. Emi's sharp little puppy teeth attempt to find playful purchase on his hand, and this brings him back a little from puppy playtime, to remember he has a _job _he's supposed to be doing.

Damn it.

Emi's clearly not entirely used to having a harness put on her, but Daiki's seen enough dogs try and choke themselves on their own collars that he can appreciate the owner's unwillingness to have the lead attached to hers. He's almost tempted to take the ribbon off her collar, because he's embarrassed already by the idea of people noticing him walking this tiny puppy with a ribbon, but since he's entirely sure he couldn't re-tie it half as nicely as her owner had, he decides he'll have to suck it up.

He consoles himself by reminding himself that chicks are really into guys with cute puppies as he clips the harness into place and latches the lead onto it.  
Emi seems to have finally figured out what was going on, by the way that she was running back and forth between him and the door, and the way that her tail was wagging so quickly.

Shit, he _really _likes puppies. Daiki rubs his face with his hand, laughing at himself a little, before shoving a couple of treats into the pocket of his hoodie and making sure he has the keys to get Emi back home.

Daiki checks the time on his watch as they go down in the elevator. It's a little past lunch time – he'll finish Emi's walk, get some food, and then go pick up all his other dogs. He wouldn't finish _too _much later than usual, so he should probably still be able to get some work done on some of his art pieces. Tetsu had phrased it earlier like there was a long time until the show, but a few weeks definitely didn't feel like a long amount of time when it was a deadline on artwork.

Though, it _does _feel like a long amount of time when he thinks about the state of his bank account.

"Sometimes," he says to Emi, "I wish _I_ was a dog." He thinks it over for a moment. "Though, maybe I'd be better off as a cat."

Emi, aware only that someone was paying attention to her, wags her tail at him, and when the elevator stops and opens the door, races to get out.

"Hold up!" he says, even though with the harness and his grip on the lead, there's no way she's either going to hurt herself or get away from him. "The park's not going anywhere!"

He only plans to walk her for about half an hour; for a dog her age, this would probably tire her out until her owner got home. Ideally, she wouldn't be raring to go when her owner got home again.

* * *

"You're late."

Daiki freezes in the middle of dropping his keys off on Tetsu's desk, and laughs awkwardly. "Hey, Tetsu. I'm just dropping off the keys."

Tetsu looks him over. "I'm glad you liked Emi," he says, and moves past him to scoop up the keys. "It makes me feel better that you're the one walking her." He unlocks his key drawer and drops them in.

"Who said anything about me liking the little beast?" Daiki muttered. "I don't expect you to pay me extra for being late."

"I wouldn't," Tetsu tells him, and there's a cheerful note to his voice, Daiki would swear. He's such a bastard sometimes. "And you didn't have to. None of your other dogs would leave fur of that colour on your clothes."

"I have paintings to work on," he announces loudly. "I'll see you tomorrow, Tetsu."

He bumps into Kagami on his way out. "Your boyfriend," he informs him, "is awful."

"And yet, he is still your boss and your best friend," Kagami answers, just as cheerful as Tetsu. Both of them are assholes. Daiki sizes him up, and decides they definitely just had a quickie somewhere. They're both in _far _too good a mood.

"Satsuki is my best friend," he says.

"Momoi is your handler, and has more patience than you have the right to test," Kagami tells him. "Being your babysitter since birth does not make her your best friend."

"Momoi-san is more like your sister, I have to agree," Tetsu says from behind him. Daiki glares at him. "Didn't you have paintings to get to?"

"Fuck you both," Daiki says, and flips them off as he leaves.


	3. 3 - Ryouta

Sorry this took me a little bit! ;_; I was struggling with a section of this chapter, haha. I don't expect the next chapter to be as difficult. :3

* * *

Ryouta had spent the first day of Emi's being walked in a state of what Kuroko called 'ridiculous and nonsensical hysterics', but which Ryouta preferred to call 'reasonable and justified worry' about his precious pet.

So he begged off work early – his shots had been good, and he knew it – so that he could rush home to make sure she was okay. _It's just this once_, he told himself as he walked. _It's just because this is the first time. It'll be easier tomorrow once I know she's been okay this time_.

Totally reasonable.

There's a clattering of paws and claws on the wood as he unlocks and opens the door to his apartment, and a happy puppy face to greet him when he gets inside.

"Hello!" he coos at her. "Hello baby! I'm home."

The ribbon on her collar is a little messed up from the time being worn, and there are a few burrs in her fur from her walk, but otherwise, as Ryouta pets, cuddles and fondles her ears, she's exactly the way she was when he left her here this morning.

He stands up, and goes to put his keys into the key bowl he has on the little table, and he notices it.

There's a note.

In some of the laziest, messiest handwriting he's ever seen, '_hey tell me if she's too energetic &amp; i'll take her longer next time_'.

It's this, more than anything that seems to soothe his ruffles. Of course, he trusted Kuroko, and his services, but...

He smiles, and pockets the note.

"Come on, Emi, are you hungry, baby?"

Close at his heels as he heads further inside, Emi follows, sniffing at his legs and looking up at him hopefully.

"Maybe you _do_ need a longer walk," he says to her. "That's okay; I'll take you out for a bit, since I came home early. How does that sound? Kagamicchi and I aren't going to the gym today."

Emi, aware only that she is being spoken to, wags her tail harder, shaking her small body with the force of its swing.

"I should just answer your walker before we go, how about that?" he says. "I'll forget otherwise, won't I, baby?"

He wanders into the little study room that was next to his bedroom. Ryouta had furnished it back when he'd moved in, but even then, he'd known he'd never use it. His laptop moves with him, when he bothers to use it; more often though, he simply uses his tablet or phone.

Ryouta's just a little bit surprised to learn that he actually has stationary in here at all, to be honest. He has to laugh at himself, for bothering to stock a room he'd known he'd never use, even as he folds a piece of paper into quarters and tears it to write his response. Emi lies next to his right foot, and he can see her tail brushing back and forth over the floor, probably collecting dust as he leans over to write his response.

'_She could probably stand a longer walk! Thank you!_'

He signs it with a heart and a kiss, even though Emi's walker, by the looks of the scrawl, is more than likely male. He finds that he likes the idea of being in contact with this other person who will be a significant part of Emi's life. The contact itself is reassuring, giving Ryouta the impression that the person who walks Emi is a caring kind of person concerned with making sure that his darling is appropriately taken care of.

That done, he looks down at Emi and smiles.

"Let's go for a little walk huh, baby?" he says, and crouches down to pet her again. "And then we'll have dinner when we get back, and I'll brush all those knots out of your fur. How does that sound?"

She probably has no idea what he's saying but her happy face is all the response that Ryouta needs.

* * *

The notes become a _thing_ almost without Ryouta realising.

There's a response when Ryouta gets home the next day that only says, '_better?_'

Emi's definitely less energetic, but not in a sickly kind of way; in a tired out way. It makes Ryouta feel better, that she's getting the exercise she needs, and the sleepy wag of her tail as she comes to greet him, because she was dozing when he unlocked the door and thus had a delayed reaction, is _really_ cute.

Ryouta doesn't always come home to a note on the little table he keeps his keys and Emi's lead and harness on, but that's okay. Sometimes, he gets notes that say things like '_your dog misses you, you should spend more time with her_' and other things, and Ryouta would be offended if it wasn't kind of true and make him feel really guilty.

And his little girl is growing up _so fast_.

Ryouta's phone is full of pictures of her. And, of course, selfies with her too - he sends those to Kuroko, and the co-worker he adopted Emi from, among others. He thought about getting a professional photo taken while she was still sweet and little, but in the end he'd decided she wouldn't be well-trained enough and would be too energetic for it. He'll get a good picture of them both done when she's fully grown, because she promises to grow into a very beautiful full-grown dog, if her mother, who Nishioka has sent him a picture of, is anything to go by.

But in the mean time, while he waits, Ryouta just takes all the photos he can himself, and posts them to all his personal social network accounts.

Often it's hard to make her sleep in her fleece-lined bed on her own. She cries and cries some nights though his closed door, and it tears at his heart, because he knows how it feels to be lonely. Kuroko always tells him to stay firm, because one day she will accept it and stop crying, but one night when he's on the couch she lies on on her side in the middle of the floor and it's so funny and adorable he actually gets off to lie on the floor with her, and her small, warm body is so comforting when he slides her over the wooden floor and against him.

Ryouta takes her into his bed that evening, fur and dog-smell be damned, and she is a warm sleeping body next to his legs, and his door stays open and her bed unused from that night on.

He becomes used to finding and picking off long, golden hairs from his clothes – well, ones that clearly aren't _his_, anyway – and running a lint roller over himself just in case when he has something important to attend.

The notes keep coming. Things like '_she's a bit heavy cut back on how much you feed her_' and '_she made a friend today_'; they make Ryouta smile and feel warm, and wonder if this is what it's like to hear about the goings on of your child at school. _Very_ occasionally, Emi is playing with a new toy when he gets home.

Ryouta stores the notes in a little box in the small study room; when it starts to get full, he buys a small white board and some markers, hangs it next to the little table and leaves a note about it being easier to communicate this way. And then he starts taking pictures of the messages left on the board for him on his phone.

He tells himself its normal for him to treasure these things because they're related to Emi and he's just a very proud, doting papa, and ignores the way that he flicks back through his photos to look at the message that said '_you should take some time for yourself too_' and the warm, excited feeling he gets from it.

* * *

"Hey, Kise-kun, do you have a minute?"

Ryouta pauses, and looks back over his shoulder. It's Tajima; one of the amateur photographers he's gotten along quite well with. He's been working with one of Ryouta's favourite photographers for about six months now.

He smiles and turns around. "What can I do for you, Tajima-kun?"

Tajima smiles back at him; he's obviously nervous as he takes a deep breath in that's probably not really noticeable to most people, but Ryouta has made his life around noticing little things like this to help him leave anyone he encounters with a positive impression. His industry is a giant network; he can't afford to leave someone thinking badly of him as a person or a professional.

"I was wondering... I've been working on some more artistic photography, and I just wanted to ask if maybe you'd be willing to do some modelling for it?"

Ryouta resists the urge to frown, even though it would only be thoughtful. Something like that would be different to his commercial modelling, so it had some appeal; but at the same time, it wouldn't have the kind of pay off that his commercial modelling had; limited exposure and little monetary compensation for his time.

Still, it was something _different_. Something new. Ryouta always did get bored easily.

"Sounds like fun!" he says. A thought occurs to him. "But only if you take a nice picture of me with my dog."

Tajima seems surprised, but Ryouta's pretty sure an apprentice, artistic photographer doesn't have the money to spare to pay a fee for Ryouta, who doesn't _really_ need the money anyway, but _does_ want a nice photo of himself with his precious pet, and who is he to pass up such a neat little opportunity?

"I'm not doing it for _free_, after all," Ryouta adds, winking. "Here, give me your phone."

The photographer blinks, before belatedly realising he was _asked_ for something. He fumbles for a moment before extracting his phone and passing it over.

"Just give me the details of the when and where, okay? I won't do anything involving nudity though. It's bad for my image. If you can work around that, though, I'm happy to do you the favour."

Ryouta's familiar with most kinds of phones, and he easily enters his personal number into Tajima's phone. He'd honestly prefer to give him the work number, but since this isn't _really_ business, he doesn't think it's appropriate.

He offers the phone back with a smile, and Tajima mostly just seems really surprised that Ryouta has _agreed_. It takes him a moment to react, and then a deep flush spreads over his face and ears.

"Thank you very much, Kise-kun!"

Ryouta laughs. "It's fine. Just remember, no nude shots, okay? If you had one planned, you'll have to scrap it or find someone else to be your model for it."

Tajima nods as he takes his phone back from Ryouta. "Yeah, no problem, I didn't really have anything like that planned."

Ryouta nods and smiles, and then turns away with a wave. "Give my best to Hayashida-san. He looks a little busy, so I won't distract him."

* * *

Once Ryouta and Tajima have sorted out a date which suits them both over messages – or rather, Tajima had found a day free, and Ryouta had requested that day off, as it had turned out easier that way – Ryouta swings by Kuroko's place. It's a day he's usually working, so Emi's supposed to be being walked the day that he's doing the shoot for Tajima, but he's taking Emi with him, since apparently it was mostly outdoors, and Ryouta figures they can just bring her along with them. He often feels bad that she spends most of her day cooped up inside; it'll ease him a little to spend a day outside with her.

"Kurokocchi!"

There's a pause, which Ryouta would mentally attribute to Kuroko doing something akin to sighing, if he ever made such overt gestures of annoyance, and then, "Come in, Kise-kun."

Ryouta smiles at him as he looks in. "Hi! How are you doing today, Kurokocchi?"

"Fine, Kise-kun, thank you. Why are you here?"

Ryouta pouts as he comes in and sits in the comfortable arm chair. "Can't I _ever_ just want to visit?"

"No. I'm very busy, Kise-kun; _some_ of us are still working. Can we hurry this up?"

Ryouta looks around – Kuroko doesn't seem to be very busy, but he does look quite tired. "You should take some rest time, Kurokocchi," he says, and he's fixed with a very flat stare. "Well, you should!"

"If you don't actually have something you need to tell me, please let me get back to work."

"I was getting there! Anyway, I'm going to be doing an artistic photoshoot—"

"Kise-kun."

"—it's _relevant_, Kurokocchi, I promise! It's supposed to be outdoors, and I'm going to take Emi, so I just wanted to pass it on to the person who walks her! I know I could have left a note for them on the whiteboard, but I figured this was probably the kind of thing that's supposed to go through you, right?"

Kuroko sighs. "That is indeed correct, Kise-kun. Please write down the date for me." He slides over a bunch of post-it notes and a pen. After a moment, he asks, "What did you mean by the whiteboard?"

Ryotua looks up after he writes the date and surrounds it with a heart. "Oh, the person who walks Emi leaves me these cute little notes sometimes! But then I thought maybe it would be easier if we had a whiteboard to communicate over, so I bought a little one and some markers to write the notes with! Do you want to see? I have pictures, because it's really cute and I want to remember them! Except when he tells me off for not spending enough time with Emi."

Kuroko gives him a strange look. "...I think I'll be alright. Thank you for letting me know about your taking Emi out."

Ryouta smiles at him. "Try and have an early night, Kurokocchi. Your skin looks terrible."

"Thank you for your concern, Kise-kun. I'm quite alright." Kuroko returns his smile, although it is very slight. "I hope you have a good rest of the evening. Perhaps you should take your walker's advice and go spend some time with your dog."

Ryouta nods eagerly and gets up. "We should have a puppy play date again soon! When are you and Kagamicchi free again?"

"Nigou did like Emi a lot though, so it would be nice for them both to have another play date soon. But talk to Kagami-kun about it at the gym tomorrow, or message me _after_ my working hours, and I _know_ you know when they are, Kise-kun. You need to get out of my hair." He's still smiling, but there is steel behind his words; he really does need to work, apparently.

Ryouta beams at him. "Sounds like fun! Ah, maybe if we go to the park I can meet someone cute who likes dogs, wouldn't that be nice?"

"Please don't drag Kagami-kun and I out just so you can find a date, Kise-kun."


End file.
